Transgender-Inclusive Benefits for Employees and Dependents

Medically necessary treatments and procedures, such as those defined by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders, should be included in employer-provided healthcare and short-term disability coverage.

Transgender people face many forms of discrimination in the provision of health insurance. Employers, as consumers of group health insurance products, can advocate on behalf of the transgender people insured on their group health insurance plans. Employers should work with their insurance carriers or administrators to remove transgender exclusions and provide comprehensive transgender-inclusive insurance coverage.

The American Medical Association joined the movement to end discrimination in health insurance for transgender people by passing the following resolution at their annual meeting in June 2008:

"RESOLVED, That our American Medical Association support public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender identity disorder as recommended by a physician."[1]

Businesses are increasingly addressing this discrimination:

Number and Percentage of Employers with Transgender-Inclusive Health Insurance Benefits

Healthcare

Transgender people also face discrimination in the provision of healthcare. Unless an employer operates its own healthcare centers or clinics for employees, it has relatively little control over the provision of healthcare. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, in collaboration with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, provide resources for hospitals on transgender inclusion in patient non-discrimination policies and cultural competency training through the Healthcare Equality Index.